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Topic: Unofficial Canon Mirrorless Concept (Read 8867 times)

A Canon mirrorless concept
We know a mirrorless camera from Canon is likely to appear in 2012. What form it takes is anyones guess. I am from the camp that Canon should do a higher end large sensor mirrorless along with a lower cost APS-C style camera.

David Riesenberg has done what I think is a fantastic concept design of a Canon mirrorless camera. Anyone at Canon listening?

The camera is based around the following ideas (Direct Quote)

Full Frame – Might as well be the pinnacle of 35mm. Especially if a new lens mount is required. Future proof.

18.1MP sensor from the 1DX – This camera will not rob sales from the 1DX on form factor alone so it makes sense to use an existing sensor instead of a new one. Plus, it will make an excellent pair to someone with an 1DX.

CM-D Lens mount – That was the source of most headaches for me. Naturally, I wanted to design it around the EF mount for reasons that I don’t need to state but it proved to be very problematic. Both the flange depth and actual mount diameter meant that the camera needed to be much thicker and possibly taller to accommodate EF lenses. So this “CM-D” lens mount is roughly FD sized which keeps the dimensions close to the original and enables lenses that are not too huge.

50mm f/1.0L “Kit Lens” – Fast primes. What can I say? I love them and they probably the best match to a system as I outlined above. So their existence is no less realistic that all the other items here. While I am far from being an optics expert, I designed this 50mm lens based on a combination of schematics of the Canon 50mm f/1L. FD f/1.2L and Leica f/0.95 so it should be a realistic representation of the dimensions of such a lens. It also features an aperture ring for direct control as well as an Auto mode for shutter priority or auto mode.

Viewfinder – Design wise, I knew from the start that I wanted to incorporate the prism hump of the AE cameras. It is a prominent feature that without it, the context of the design gets somewhat lost. At the same time, it is obviously not a technical requirement in mirrorless cameras so making it detachable while housing the EVF felt like the optimal combination of form and function. After all, if this is a camera for photographers, a viewfinder, even if electronic, is a must.

Flash Flash Flash – I regard flashes as an integral, must have feature of any system and I didn’t want to handicap its use in any form. Not when taking snapshots with the built-in one and not when the viewfinder is either attached or not.

Neeneko

mmmmm.... while the f1.0 kit lens would put it way outside my price range, I think I would love a camera like this, esp if they released an EF converter at the same time. Though I think the simplicity of controls would run counter to what people who have probably around the 10k necessary for such a setup generally seems to want.

I could see such a camera really giving Leica a run for its money, but Canon generally does not seem interested in that market. So sad.

goodmane

Also posted in link page: Stunning. Got it just right. From an affordability point of view I would personally need a 35mm f2 rather than that beast if I were to buy it all new. But the f1.0 would definitely appeal as well after initial purchase.

I did't spot it, but I'd also want a direct button to start video recording at 720p/30fps.

This looks all very good. Not sure if something like this would fit well into Canon's marketing concept but maybe it does. Hey, if they throw in an optical viewfinder or make it a manual focus rangefinder that is more affordable than a Leica kit I'd be buying this. Actually, I'd be giving up my EOS system for this - which brings us back to the marketing problem with the idea.

But really - anything that would pick up on the heritage of the classic Canon rangefinders and the certainly the FD system would be fabulous. Just imagine if something like this came with the FD bayonet and a bunch of new lenses matched to that design.